Never Forget
by vanila
Summary: This story takes place after 2x05 (The Indicator). Project Christmas is more than what it seems, Sydney is coming back from her mission. PLEASE R/R :)
1. Chapter 1

Her heart felt heavy and dark, angry at what her mind couldn't see. She hated coming back like this, but it was eating at her, carving her inside out with curiosity and fear.

"Agent Kerr?"

As Agent Virginia Kerr looked up she saw Sydney Bristow, tight-lipped and flushed with exhaustion. Sydney seemed to bear the fragility of glassware teetering on the edge of a surface.

"Sydney, I certainly didn't expect to see you. What is it?"

Agent Kerr could see the troubled look haunting Bristow so clearly she was startled. She was shocked to see such openness of emotion displayed on a top-ranking double agent, a job of constant deception.

"I'm sorry, Agent Kerr. But there's more than what I saw before. I know there is. And I need your help to see it. Please help me put my mind at peace."

A moment of silence filled the room. Then, with great reluctance, Agent Kerr's mouth began to quiver from its steadfast frown.

"I hope you don't make this a habit, Agent Bristow. But you're a hard one to turn away. Sit down, you know the routine."

It only took a few moments for Sydney to attach each of the nodules to the appropriate location on her forehead.

"I'm going to count back from three. When I get to one, I want you to tell me where you are. 3…2…1."

_It was snowing gently and the night was full of shadows.  Sydney found herself in front of a dark, brick building. She peeled away the frost on the door to reveal a brass plate engraved "Summer Learning Institution for the Gifted." Sydney looked ahead and without the slightest touch, the door opened and she walked inside. All the furnishings and woodwork was done in mahogany, projecting a cold and unsettling feeling. __Sydney__ instinctively started climbing the stairs on her right. _

"Where are you, Sydney?"

_She heard the happy voices of children from the third door down. Again, her feet willed her towards the doorway and she didn't have to touch the brass doorknob to see what was going inside. _

"I'm in a building, upstairs. I'm talking to someone."

_Sydney saw her younger self crouched on the ground, speaking to a boy whose face she couldn't see. _

_"You know, I got a tattoo, just like the rock stars!" little __Sydney__ explained, "See, it's right here. Under my hair."_

_Sydney saw herself turn, pull up her hair and show the boy a tattoo of the number three. _

_"They let me pick my number.  I picked three 'cause it was my mommy's favorite number. She said everything has three parts. Stories have a beginning, middle, and end. People are born, live, and then die. Even my family has three people. That was until…"_

_Little __Sydney__ suddenly grew cold and pale as she stopped the tears from coming. She had to be strong._

"Who's in the room with you, Sydney?"

_"Don't be sad," said the voice of the little boy, who seemed somehow vaguely familiar. "I picked five 'cause my Papa would count to five whenever we played hide and seek. But we don't play hide and seek together anymore. At least, not when I'm awake."_

_"What do you mean?"asked __Sydney__._

_"Well, since Papa's in heaven now, I can only play hide and seek with him when I'm asleep, in my dreams. Papa was also really good at hugging. He said a hug can make the whole world happy. Would you like a hug? I have plenty to spare."_

_Something passed between the two children, and as she watched the scene play out __Sydney__ could feel the heavy sadness dissipating in the room._

_Impulsively, the little boy turned and hugged __Sydney__. __Sydney__ gasped as she saw his distinctive cherub face._

_"Don't worry Syd, I'll always be with you. I'll always watch over you."_

_"I know, Mikey. Even when we get out of this dump, I'll never forget you. I promise."_


	2. Chapter 2

Thanks for all the great reviews…you guys really made my day! :)

And without further ado, here is Ch.2

Sydney was grabbed out of the past as quickly as she had entered it and felt herself back in the padded chair. Repressed tears ran down her cheeks, and she quickly wiped them away with the back of her hand.

"Are you all right, Agent Bristow? Would you like to talk about what you saw?" said Agent Kerr's gentle voice, cutting into the profound silence.

"No, I'm fine. Everything is fine," Sydney replied stiffly, "Thank you again for your help."

Agent Kerr sighed as she watched Sydney erect her emotional barriers once again. "This may be the first time and the last time I say this, but I hope I don't see you again here, for this. I know that past can be troubling, remember Sydney, sometimes to move ahead you have to let go. Get some sleep, you look exhausted."

Sydney tried to smile in gratitude, but it came out as a half-hearted grimace. "Thanks for the advice Agent Kerr. I'll keep in touch."

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It was snowing outside, just like in her memory, light, feathery flakes covering the landscape in a soft layer of frost. She decided to jog, she needed to run off the pain and confusion. As she found herself running in the direction of the warehouse, she realized her heart had already decided a course of action. Her hand inadvertently reached for her cellphone and she dialed the number she knew so well.

"Hello?" His voice sounded groggy, like he had been taking a nap.

"Joey's Pizza."

She could here his ragged breath from the other end of the line and imagined the confusion running through his mind. After all, it was Vaughn who was usually Joey's Pizza, not Sydney.

"Wrong Number."

------------------------------------------------0-------------------------------------------------------

When Vaughn walked into the warehouse, he saw her standing in the corner looking off into space. As she turned towards him, he caught sight of her tired, disturbingly pale face on the brink of tears.

"You look like you just got up from a nap," she said.

"And you look like you need a nap," he said, his voice accented with his wry sense of humor. As he moved towards her, it became glaringly apparent that something was very wrong.

"What is it, Sydney?", he sensed her hesitation and continued, "You know you can trust me, no matter whether its job related or not."

"Vaughn, this is going to sound really strange, but did you ever go to camp?"

"Maybe, a couple of times, I don't really remember." Confusion engulfed him as he searched for the relevance of summer camp to the heartache Sydney was experiencing.

"The year when you were seven, did you go to a place called the Institution for the Gifted?" 

"Yea, I remember. My mother forced me to go. She said it would be good for me." As Vaughn spoke, he watched Sydney's face fill with horror.

"Sydney, just tell me what's wrong."

The memory from hypnosis flashed again through her mind. 

"Turn around, Michael."

She had called him Michael.

He felt her ice cold hands at the nape of his neck, pulling back his hair, searching for something. A shiver went down Vaughn's spine. He heard her gasp for breath as she pulled away from him.

"You were there Michael, you were with me at Project Christmas."

Her voice echoed for a moment, and then there was an infinite moment of pure silence. Just silence.

"Since last week when I saw you, I've been having nightmares Michael. And I can't stop them. I decided I had to know exactly what happened fifteen years ago, once and for all, so I went back to Agent Kerr and asked her to hypnotize me again.  The Institution for the Gifted was a cover for Project Christmas. I saw you in my mind, but I wasn't sure, so I checked your neck. Each child was tattooed, on their neck, with a unique number. Your number was five. I'm so sorry, Michael."

She moved near to him, reaching out to touch him. He suddenly pulled away from her. She could see a muscle moving in the corner of his cheek.

"Can you give me a moment, Sydney?"  He turned away from her, facing the lonely gray walls of the warehouse. 

The seconds turned to minutes, and a profound sadness grew in Sydney. The one man who had stood by her for so long had finally turned away, just like all the others.

Don't worry guys, I promise there's a happy ending. So just hold on.


	3. Chapter 3

Thanks for all the great reviews, and I'll try to update more often. **Please R/R**, it means a lot to me. 

As Sydney got ready to leave, Vaughn turned around.

"Wait."

She turned to see his face, shrouded in darkness, with the knowledge and weight of great sorrow reflected in his emerald eyes.

He cleared his throat with great effort, "I'm truly sorry, Syd. I just needed some time to take it in, to understand what your words meant. If it had been anyone else telling me this, I don't know…believing is so hard sometimes. I want to take you somewhere, to help us make sense of all of this. Will you come?"

She nodded slightly, and murmured something inaudible. 

They walked silently to his car. As Sydney sat down, she felt safe and warm. The car smelled wonderful, the scent of Vaughn's cologne and the new car mingling together.

Vaughn turned on the radio and something slow and sweet was playing in the background. As Vaughn drove out of the driveway of the warehouse, Sydney quickly lost track of the circles they made around the block to shake off any cars tailing them. The snow had turned to rain, and made pitter-patter sounds on the roof of Vaughn's car. Sydney felt her eyes closing, and promised herself it would be just for a moment. She was so tired, so very tired.

Vaughn heard the easy breathing, and turned to see a side of Sydney that was foreign to him. The side of Sydney that was utterly free of barriers: vulnerable, innocent, asleep. His hand drew up to her face, wanting to touch her cheek, but stopped and hovered millimeters above. _Not now. Not like this.  I need to take her home._

Sydney had once described the place she called home, and now the memory came to his mind as he guided the car towards her house. He parked across the street, opened his glove compartment, and found some files in a manila folder. He wrote his note painstakingly, making sure each word was concise. This was one letter he wanted to phrase perfectly. Vaughn slipped the whole folder inside his jacket, got out of the car and opened the passenger door. He unbuckled Sydney, and gently lifted her out of the car. Vaughn was amazed by how light she was, and how close she was to him. She barely stirred when he rang the doorbell. A pretty African-American girl answered the door.

"Oh my God! Sydney! Is she alright?"

Vaughn suddenly realized that a stranger coming like this to Francie's door, carrying Sydney, was unusual enough to worry anyone. 

"Nothing's wrong. I'm sorry to scare you. You must be Sydney's roommate. Hi, I'm Richard Walker; I work with Sydney at the bank. After work, I offered her a ride home; she must have been really tired since she fell asleep in my car. Long day, I guess." He shrugged nonchalantly, like nothing really mattered.

Francie looked a little confused, but it seemed like she bought the story. "Why don't you come in and set her down on the couch?"

He grinned like a friendly coworker, nothing more and nothing less. "Thanks a lot. Oh yeah, I almost forgot," Vaughn said as he pulled the file out of his jacket, "Can you give this to Sydney as soon as she wakes up? It's really important; she'll understand what it is. Thanks again."

Vaughn walked out without glancing back, without thinking second thoughts, just like a man named Richard Walker would. 

---------------------------------0----------------------------------

Sydney awoke, to bright sunlight and no memory of falling asleep or even coming home. And then she remembered, and understood, Vaughn must have brought her in. Damn, she had fallen asleep…and he had wanted to show her something. She ought to be crowned queen for sleeping at the wrong times. 

"Hey, darling. Did you sleep well?"

She stretched like a cat, giving Francie one of her famous 'Sydney smiles' hiding all her apprehension regarding yesterday's events. "Yeah…did I miss anything?"

Francie chuckled, "Nothing unless you count ten hours. You slept like you'd never slept before. Your super hot escort left a file for you."

Sydney found a thin manila folder tossed into her hands. She opened it, and revealed stacks of receipts from Credit Dauphine, the "bank". 

"Thanks Francie. So much boring paperwork, you know how it is." 

Francie sighed and walked into the kitchen, mumbling to herself, "I don't know why you work yourself so hard, you ought to quit…"

Folded in between the papers was a note filled with handwriting she immediately recognized. 

_Sydney__,_

_I was going to take you someplace special that I hope you would have liked, but you fell asleep. Don't worry, I understand, you don't have to apologize like I know you're going to do anyway, and I guess it'll just have to wait for another day. Regardless, there are still things I need to tell you. I think telling you will take a burden off both of our minds, and it isn't easy to say all of this, but I have to. I hope you can find it in your heart to understand._

_I believe that when we are born, God or our creator, or whoever you believe designed this world and shaped our existence, provides  us certain tools (you might call them) to live our lives. He gives us a face that can be ugly or beautiful, a body that may work or be handicapped, skills and talents which we can hone or ignore. What we do with what we have, I think that's life. Project Christmas was simply that, a tool placed into the schemes of our lives, something beyond our control. What we do with this knowledge is what will shape us._

_Sydney__, I know you so well. I know you'll blame yourself for what happened, the way you blamed yourself for your mother's crimes, the death of those FBI agents at Badenweiler. You need to know you're not superman, things happen, people make mistakes. I don't hold you responsible, and I don't want you to hurt yourself thinking that you are responsible for all the world's follies. I care about you too much to see you hurt like that._

_But inadvertently, you have opened a door into my past. The knowledge of Project Christmas has given birth to curiosity within me, of what happened that summer, a summer that is missing from my memories. And when you're ready, and not before, I hope you'll tell me what you saw yesterday. _

_Most of all, Never forget how much I care about you Sydney. I will always be there when you need me._

_~Vaughn_

Tell me how you guys like it, and I'll continue :) I have some cool stuff planned.


	4. Chapter 4

Ok guys, I realized I had skipped a crucial scene, so I went back and added it to Ch.4 (which you are now looking at). Sydney's counter mission and the actual Budapest mission (which you may have already read) is in the next chapter. Sorry if there is any confusion.** PLZ REVIEW :)**

Sydney sat in the meeting room, waiting for Sloane to start the meeting. He got up abruptly, and the last trace of whispers in the room quickly vanished.

"Good work at Budapest, Sydney. However, it seems that our work in Budapest is not yet complete. We've just gotten further intel that a valuable Rambaldi device is being held at the facility. Our reports indicate that the device resembles a statue in the form a child holding a basket of flowers; the bottom is supposedly stamped with the sign of Rambaldi. We don't know its exact function, but that can be determined after the device has been retrieved. Sydney, you'll be accompanied by your father on the mission. You will be traveling as a Russian insurance agent there to appraise the property for a coverage plan. Sydney, your alias will be Tatyana Grigorevna, you'll need to be heavily disguised to prevent being identified with last week's incident. Marshall, the ops"

Marshall stumbled to his feet, with a wide grin on his face. "The Rambaldi statue reminded me of this documentary on weeping statues. Did you know there's a statue in Chile that weeps blood, especially in the presence of children?" A sharp glare from Sloane was certainly sufficient to steer Marshall back on course. "Um..oh yes. Ops. From your last trip, we compiled a map of the area to help us find the statue's location. Sydney, you'll drop this while you're walking." Marshall held up a shiny wrapper. "See, its just a pretty candy wrapper. Like you might be walking on a sidewalk, when your boyfriend comes up and you need your breath to smell good, so you chew this candy, and then you dispose…"Sloane cleared his throat, his glare maximized a thousand times in anger, if that was possible. "Yes, anyway, the wrapper has a mini-camera to catch the new access codes. Then you'll use this pretty device. Looks like a cigarette liter, right? Actually, its loaded with an agent to put your 'tour guide' right to sleep. Using the wrapper camera, Mr. Bristow, who will be in the control room, will give you the access codes. You'll slip away, and go into this room." Marshall said, pointing to a square on the map. "Its on the fourth floor, two doors down, on the left. You'll put in the code and ta-da, you'll open the door. Use the same access code for the safe containing the statue, which will be behind a large tapestry. You'll take this bag with you to put the statue in. Simple enough."

Sloane ended the meeting, standing up, his chair rocking back into place. "Your plane leaves in four hours, good luck to both of you."

As they exited the meeting room, Sydney pulled her dad aside. "Dad, we need to talk."

He led her into the familiar room, going through a very familiar routine. He took the cap of the pen, and then nodded to acknowledge her understanding. _2 minutes, __Sydney__._

Sydney wasted no time in getting to the point. "Dad, why couldn't you just tell me the truth? I know the truth about Project Christmas, and frankly, I'm tired of being shocked over and over again as I learn more and more. First, you don't even tell me about it. Then, you tell me I was the only one involved, you were just testing it, and it was for my protection. Now, I've discovered Vaughn was involved. How many others, Dad? How many more children lost their choices in life?"

Jack Bristow's eyes took on a glossy and unfocused appearance. "It was beyond my control, Sydney. I'm so sorry."

Sydney stood up abruptly, unchecked anger flashing in her eyes. "You know what, Dad? Sorry just doesn't cut it anymore. How many more layers of lies do I have to peel through to find the truth?" Sydney edged so close to him that he could have counted her eyelashes. "I'll bet when I've peeled through a lifetime of layers and I find the core of the enigma Jack Bristow, the core will just be another lie. Jack Bristow, the infinitely lie-layered onion. It does have a certain ring to it, doesn't it?" said Sydney, her voice sharp and stinging, bitter with irony.

"Sydney, let me explain…"

"Dad, more than anything I would love to hear your explanation. You couldn't possibly imagine how much I want to hear your pathetic excuses and then convince myself you really care about me. But I can't. I'm so tired of believing you and hurting myself.  I just can't give you the power to hurt me one more time. I'm sure you understand, you never want to give mom a chance because you don't want to be hurt…"

"Stop**!**Don't you ever compare our relationship to that backstabbing, treacherous…"

"What makes you so different?" said Sydney softly and sadly as the timer for two minutes went off.

_"Thanks for clearing up that problem for me," said __Sydney__, her fake smile falling right into place._

_"Anytime __Sydney__.__ I'm always here to help…"_

 **REVIEW, PLZ :)******


	5. Chapter 5

This was part of Ch.4 before, the explanation for the change is on Ch.4. There's some Russian in this chapter. I apologize in advance if I butchered the language, bear with me. Thanks for all the great reviews. **Make my day; Please continue to review!!**

Sydney waited in the warehouse, pacing, her fingers clutched in nervousness, waiting for her countermission.

"Hey." She turned around to see Vaughn, his smile conveying everything his words could not.

"Hey. Thanks for taking me home the other day."

"No problem." Vaughn suddenly cleared his throat, always aware that protocol weighed upon his every word and action. "About your countermission, the CIA wants you to take this pencil. It has a sort of radioactive tracer in it, when you've got the statue, trace over the Rambaldi sign with the pencil. It'll allow the CIA to track the statue."

Sydney seemed disturbed, her face taut with anger. "That's it? That's as good as doing nothing, Vaughn. In fact, we're helping SD-6. Why can't we proactively stop them before they get the statue?"

"Calm down, Sydney. Since we don't know what it is, the most intelligent thing to do is to lay silent, let SD-6 figure it out for us, and then act. We don't know which part of the statue to salvage, or what it even remotely looks like. That takes away the CIA's ability to make a fake replica to give SD-6."

Sydney sighed. "Fine, I'll do it. Anything else?"

"Be careful, Sydney. We have reports that K-directorate may be there for the statue as well. Watch your back."

******Budapest******

Sydney walked, her hair and eye color changed dramatically, wearing a short, cute suit. At that very moment, her father was breaking into the computer room. The receptionist, a young man, looked up, clearly intrigued by the visitor.

_"Dobriy dyehn.__ Meenya zahvoot Tatyana Grigorevna**.**Ya Aoelzhehyen ehayehsveh ochyayenetveh esoznakehsteveyennvesteznakh."*_

The receptionist gave her a quizzical look, checked his logbook, and said, "_Spehyehahooyete__ eha Mehnoy"**_

She passed the camera that she remembered from last week, and dropped the candy wrapper. Her father's voice echoed in her ear, "Good work, Sydney. I'll have the access codes for you in a moment."

She took out the cigarette liter, sprayed the canister towards the receptionist's eyes, and helped him down to the ground. She ran up three floors, and stood ready at the door, waiting for her father's signal.

"Sydney, The combination is 7…2…4…5...8"

She quickly punched the combination into the keypad. The door opened soundlessly, and Sydney placed the bag in which she would place the statue on the ground, near the door. As soon as Sydney entered the room, a feeling of dread overcame her. "Dad…something's wrong." Sydney started to feel dizzy, her limbs going stiff on her. She couldn't control her fall, as her head hit the hard floor with a sickening thud. _The room must be have been filled with gas._ Before she passed out, she saw Anna Espinoza's face, covered in a breathing mask, her maniac laugh filling the room. And then there was darkness.

_*"Good Afternoon.__ My name is Tatyana Grigoevna. I am here to appraise the property."_

_** "Follow me"_

****

**REVIEW PLZ!! :)**


	6. Chapter 6

"Sydney…Sydney!" _God dammit, they had gotten to her. _Jack gritted his teeth as he evaluated the situation. It didn't look good. He concluded that Sydney's attacker had used gas or a targeted spray, and since he hadn't heard a scuffle. The gas must have been quick acting, obviously silent and almost certainly lethal.

He toggled his com as he ran towards the fourth floor. "I need an extraction team on the roof, NOW! I'll be there in ten minutes with Sydney. She may need medical attention, so be prepared. I'm going radio silent." He quickly switched the com off as he stood in front of room 402. Jack pressed his hand against the door, checking for heat, and then taking a deep breath, put in the combination and opened the door. 

He was glad he had taken that breath, since the smoke residue signaled that a gas was suspended in the air. There was no sign of Anna Espinoza or the statue, all he saw was Sydney's motionless body strewn aside like a rag doll on the ground. Her limbs had taken an unnatural position, and Jack could barely make out Sydney's chest rising and falling with every breath. He lifted her up, reminded of her childhood, and how many times she had fallen asleep on his lap and he had carried her to her room. She stirred out of consciousness, mumbling, "Dad…get the bag…" He grabbed the bag, not understanding its importance, and surprised at its weight. Jack ran up the stairs, two at a time, to the roof. 

As soon as Jack climbed onto the roof, he saw the helicopter looming above them, with the extraction team reaching out to grab Sydney. Once Sydney and the bag were safely inside the helicopter, Jack climbed into the cockpit as well. All that was left behind was a strange gas, an empty safe, a baffled receptionist, and a beautiful sunset.

Inside the helicopter, the medical team quickly hooked Sydney up to a respirator. The team began checking her vitals and taking blood samples.

Jack climbed close to the stretcher, wanting to be close to Sydney. He reached out and smoothed back her hair from her face. He remembered their last conversation, the bitter words exchanged and felt an all too familiar guilt wash over him. "How is she?"

"It's pretty early to tell, but I think she'll make it. She'll need to go to the hospital for further tests. I wish I knew exactly what kind of gas she was exposed to…"

Jack knew taking Sydney to an SD-6 hospital would be yet another complication, but he realized protesting could and would arouse heavy suspicion. So Jack did the only thing he could do, he sat next to Sydney, reaching for her limp hand and hoping she knew he was there. To his amazement, a crumpled piece of paper was in her enclosed fist.

_Sydney__,_

_I was never one for formalities, and I know you feel the same way. So I'll get to the point. _

_You owe me. That gas that you breathed in could have been lethal, in fact, according to my report that gas **did** kill you. But I've decided to let you live and I can imagine you would want to know why._

_Sydney__, we're not so different, you and __I.__ We're just two brilliant agents trying to do what we think is right. I respect your talent so much that I've decided to make you my ally to help me further my end. To put it simply, you're in my debt. And you will repay that debt._

_I know the way your mind works, you could just escape, seemingly vanish of the face of this earth, so you would never fulfill your side of the bargain. But, remember __Sydney__, you've signed yourself into a binding contract by living instead of dying, and the one thing I hate more than anything else is a person who tries to break a contract. So I placed a special surprise in the gas, a tiny, undistinguishable poison that will latch onto every single cell in your blood stream, reproducing faster than any virus known to mankind. No doubt you will have countless doctors search for it in your blood, but the beauty of this poison is that it becomes part of your cell, melding itself into your bloodstream until cell and poison are one and the same, indistinguishable from each other. But never fear, __Sydney__ dear, the poison will stay dormant as long as it's missing its necessary counterpart. The simplest way to put it is I've given you half the poison, the keyhole but without the key._

_Now, unless I've grossly overestimated your intelligence, you must realize what a brilliant poison this is. If you ever attempt to evade my interests, I can simply contaminate every place and every possible food source in your vicinity. This mass contamination will be absolutely harmless to everyone, since it is only **half** of the poison, but for you Sydney, it will mean a very painful death. Good bye, __Sydney__. Do try and get some sleep, after today's incident I think you're losing your touch._

_Very cordially yours,_

_Anna_

Jack sighed, distressed that his daughter had to take on yet another burden in her already horrendously difficult life. And if what Anna was saying was true, there was nothing anybody could do. Jack rubbed his eyes, suddenly very tired. He absent-mindedly glanced around the cockpit, his eyes catching sight of the bag. He remembered its unexplainable weight, and Sydney's insistence on bringing it along despite the fact she had recovered nothing to put into the bag. His curiosity sparked, he walked towards the bag, ripped it open and peered inside.

"What the hell…"

----------------------0-------------------------

Since I left you all at another *evil* cliffhanger ;) I'd like to make up for it by personally thanking each one of my faithful and friendly reviewers. I love you all! 

Melia, Andi Horton, Starr Light, Secret Agent Girl, Lex, tennischickGGEA, swtangelrelina , Jennifer stross, Melia…again! Thanks girl!, Siricerasi, charmedgal005, spider-elf, mudpie7386, Coley, Vaughnscutie, Hidden Identity

**Please continue to review! :)******


	7. Chapter 7

Thanks for being patient everybody! I promise you won't be disappointed ;) some great action is yet to come. As always, **R/R**!

First a quick recap-

Jack rubbed his eyes, suddenly very tired. He absent-mindedly glanced around the cockpit, his eyes catching sight of the bag. He remembered its unexplainable weight, and Sydney's insistence on bringing it along despite the fact she had recovered nothing to put into the bag. His curiosity sparked, he walked towards the bag, ripped it open and peered inside.

"What the hell…"

-----------------------------0-----------------------------

Curled in a fetal position inside the bag was a tiny sleeping boy, with a head of chestnut curls framing his face like a halo. It had been so long since Jack had been near to a child, and the little boy's perfection astonished Jack. He quickly stifled his surprise as the medical crew looked up.

"It's nothing…just papers…I'm just amazed Sydney brought them…" The last thing Jack wanted was this little boy, who very possibly held a treasure trove of knowledge regarding the new generation weapons to fall into the hands of SD-6. And if he revealed the child, with no doubt the boy would be swiftly transported to an SD-6 hospital, never to be seen again. He closed the bag reluctantly, leaving holes so the boy could breathe, hoping the boy wouldn't wake up just yet.

"Mr. Bristow?" Jack looked up to the medical technician's expectant face. "Your daughter's condition is still unstable, so the best course of action is to take her to the nearest SD-6 approved hospital." He pointed to the middle of the map. "That's here… Vienna…Empress Elisabeth Hospital of the City of Vienna. Will that be acceptable, Mr. Bristow?"

Jack's face was rigid with checked emotion. "Yes, of course. I'll call the SD-6 Director, Mr. Sloane for final approval," he said stiffly.

The rings of the phone echoed through his headset. Jack knew Sloane so well he could almost see him poised in his chair agreeing to take the call. 

"Hello Arvin…"

"Jack….how was the mission at Budapest? A success I presume?"

"I'm afraid not, Arvin. When Sydney entered the vault, she breathed in some gas released by Anna Espinoza, from K-Directorate. I rushed to retrieve her and the artifact, but I was too late. Sydney's condition is unstable; the medical crew has advised me to take her to Empress Elisabeth Hospital of the City of Vienna until she recovers. Is that acceptable?"

"Of course, Jack. You know I regard Sydney as if she were my own daughter. Anything that the medical technicians deem necessary…"

"Arvin, I was also hoping you would allow me to remain in Vienna until Sydney recovers."

"Actually, Jack…I was hoping you would agree to stay in Vienna, not only to keep an eye on Sydney, but to complete a special research assignment for our department. When you reach Vienna, I'll have you debriefed. My contact there is Matthias Atzmüller. I hope to see you soon Jack. Take care." Jack heard a click as the line was disconnected. 

As for the boy, Jack would take him to the CIA headquarters in Vienna and go from there.


	8. Chapter 8

**Short chapter, enjoy! ~**

**VIENNA******

Jack peered out of the tiny window as they landed in Vienna. In the dusk he could see the outline of Gipfelkreuz. The beauty of the mountain never failed to amaze Jack. The gray jagged mountain range filled the sky accented with the gentlest trace of a brilliant white cloud. As the pilot gently set the helicopter down on the emergency runway of the hospital, doctors hurried out with a stretcher for Sydney. Jack helped hoist Sydney down while the technicians updated the doctors on her conditions. 

Jack lifted the bag onto his shoulder and ran to catch up with the doctor, who was already hurrying inside to the building. "Excuse me, doctor. I need to run some errands. Would it be alright…if I left for an hour or two?" This is one of the few instances Jack did not have to try to put concern into his voice, it was already there.

"Of course, Mr. Bristow. Sydney seems to be doing fine, and we can take things from here. We'll page you if her condition changes."

"Also, do you know a man by the name of Matthias Atzmüller? He's a business contact of mine I wanted to track down."

"Oh…you mean Matthy! Lucky for you, he works right here. If I remember correctly he should be on the third floor in the neurology lab."

"Thank you, doctor. Do keep in touch."

"Of course, Mr. Bristow. It's our pleasure to be at your service at Empress Elisabeth Hospital."

The doctor's words faded into the atmosphere as Jack rushed out of revolving doors of the lobby, all a part of the overarching pattern of the hospital. Rushing and moving and pushing and shoving, life and death, death and life. The line between them was so fine, so thin, so easy to cross. And again, as Jack looked towards the East, he saw Gipfelkreuz and stood a moment to marvel at it. The shadow seemed to have changed over the mountain, and as Jack hurried to the CIA headquarters he could feel the mountain watching him. Somehow, although he normally despised the feeling of being watched, he knew there was a connection among Sydney, and him, and the little boy in the bag, and the mountain. And the mystery of it, although anxious to be revealed, would wait, crouched in silence until dawn.

I really love to know someone out there is enjoying my writing. Make my day! **Please R/R.**


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